Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraq has preserved its upper-middle-income status in the World Bank’s most recent 2026-2027 Country Income Classifications, joining Jordan, Turkey, China, Brazil, and Malaysia.
The World Bank’s income categories are updated yearly using the Atlas technique based on each country’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita.
Upper-middle-income nations have a GNI per capita of $4,636 to $14,375 for the fiscal year 2026-27, while high-income economies surpass that level.
This year’s report saw six economies move into the higher income group, while none were demoted.
The World Bank attributed the shifts to various causes, including economic recovery, export-led development, and improvements in national statistics reporting, rather than a single worldwide trend.
Iraq’s continued classification as an upper-middle-income economy comes as the country seeks to diversify its economy beyond oil, expand infrastructure investment, and attract more foreign investment through private-sector reforms and business-friendly policies.
The World Bank extensively uses its income categories for international comparisons; however, they do not reflect overall living standards or income distribution. Instead, they serve as a standard for global economic comparisons based on average national income per person.